Process for preparing fertilizing material.



6 2 F m m M P r. A. DUNGAN PROCESS FOR PREPARING FERTILIZING MATERIAL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 3. 1917.

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I ONES A. JDUNG, OF CHICAGO, ILTAINOIS.

rattan I We FOR PREPARING JEER'IIJLIZING MATERIAL.

Specification of JLetteraIlPatent. Pgmbagm'lbgfl FM, $6, 111

Application filed aprnaierr. Serial no. water.

To all whom itmay concern:

. .Be it known that 1[, TnoMAsA. Duncan,

a citizen of the United States, residing at 47 West Garfield Blvd, Chicago, in the county of' Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Process for Preparing Fertilizing Material, of which the following is a specification.

- My invention relates to an improved process for preparing fertilizing material,

and is fully described and explained herein, and an apparatus by which the process may successfully be carried out is illustrated 1n the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a transverse section on the line 1 of Fig.2; Fig. 2 is a plan section;

and Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3' of Fig. 2.

" It has been shown that organic matter such as that contained in dry humus, swamp humus, muck, peat, garbage or sewage sludge, can be treated with certain bacteria To this end I provide a bed 4 divided into a series of spaces each sloping toward its own center and at the, center of each I place a perforated head 5 having communication with an air-passage 6. 7 is a hot-air chamher, or tunnel, in which the air is heated to the requisite degree and forced 'into the pipe 6, by means of the steam jet exhauster 8, by

which, by cutting 0d the air, live steam can also be forced out of the heads 5. 9 are. overhead water-pipes by which the material upon thebed dean be supplied with mois- 'ture.

In the practice of my process the organic material, or the mass of which it forms a part, is placed on the bed, and is preferably sterilized by forcing steam through it (although in some cases this step can be omitted) and is inoculated with aerobic bacterla. of the selected kind.

Warmed air is then forced up through the material, the air being more or less heated so as to maintain the mass at that temperature which is known to be the best for the particular culture employed, and Water 1s conveniently sprinkled over the mass from the pipes 9. The bacteria can be convenlently introduced with the Water supply. If des1red the beds can be placed under a roof 10, after the manner of a hothouse. The reactions produced by bacteriolog1c al actlon proceed under these favorable conditions with extreme rapidity, and after a relatively brief treatment the material can be used for fertilizing purposes, or, if the material contam a suitable proportion of earthy material in addition to the organic content, the plant can be grownin the material itself.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: i

1. The herein described improvement in the art of forming fertilizer from sterilized organic material, which consists in inoculating the material with aerobic bacteria and permltting the bacteria to develop while continuously forcing air through the mass. a

2. The herein described improvement in the art of forming fertilizer from organic material, which consists in sterilizing the material, inoculating the material with aerobic bacteria and permitting the bacteria to develop while. continuously forcing heated air up from the bottom through the mass to maintain the same at the temperature favoring maxlmum bacteriological activity.

3. The herein described improvement in the art of forming fertilizer from organic material which consists in first sterilizing the material, then inoculating the material with aerobic bacteria, and permitting, the bacteria to develop While continuously forcmg heated air through the mass to maintain the same at the temperature favoring bacteriological activity.

4:. The herein described improvement in the art of forming fertilizer from organic material which consists in forcing steam through the material to produce substantial sterilization, then simultaneously moisten- 5 ing and inoculating the mass with/aerobic bacteria and develop while ermitting' the bacteria to rcing heated air up through my hand and seal this 24th day of March, 1917.

THOMAS A. DUNGAN. [L.s.] 

